- Headline: “Rising Number of Unwed Mothers”
- Source: Dong-A Ilbo
- Date of Publication: January 19, 1974
- Summary:
The number of unwed mothers in Korea is on the rise, with teenage mothers aged 15 to 19 becoming a particularly pressing social issue. Hyunsook Shim, President of the Christian Adoption Program of Korea (CAPOK), who has been involved in adoption services since 1962 and counseling unwed mothers since 1969, noted that the consistent and high number of counseling cases reflects the persistent growth in unwed motherhood. The causes of unwed motherhood are often linked to a combination of societal conditions, home environment, and the personal emotional factors of the individuals involved. These include the formation of densely concentrated factory districts in urban fringe areas and the increase in runaway youth. Kyung-ae Lee, a special counselor for unwed mothers at the Holt Adoption Program, highlighted that 59.9% of unwed mothers come from economically disadvantaged families. She highlighted the inability of parents, struggling amidst poverty, to provide balanced attention to their children as a significant factor contributing to the rise in unwed motherhood.
To address the issue, Shim proposed several measures, including deploying counselors in factory areas, enforcing public enlightenment campaigns through mass media, and collaborating with family planning program agents to curb the rise in unwed motherhood.
Social welfare organizations, including CAPOK, Holt Adoption Program, Korea Social Service Inc., Korea Welfare Services Grace Hall (part of the House of Happiness in Bongwon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul), and the Salvation Army Yŏjagwan (a home for single mothers), are actively addressing the crisis. Their initiatives include providing prenatal care, subsidizing childbirth costs, facilitating adoptions, and offering vocational training. Additionally, 14 children's counseling centers nationwide provide support to unwed mothers, though their role remains limited and largely reactive. In the 1970s, media reports about the rise in unwed mothers have spread widely, accompanied by the active production of a narrative that depicted young women from impoverished families—particularly those who were young (teenagers), uneducated (from factory towns), and influenced by sexual curiosity—as the primary group becoming unwed mothers. This discourse, which framed unwed mothers as stigmatized individuals and subjects in need of prevention, was largely produced and disseminated by adoption agencies. In the early 1970s, the Christian Adoption Program of Korea (CAPOK) was a central figure in this discourse. From the mid-1970s onward, the four major government-authorized overseas adoption agencies emerged as the primary producers of this narrative in the media. Scholars also contributed to this framework by publishing studies that reinforced its legitimacy, while the government responded by developing a welfare system for unwed mothers and their children, including the expansion of shelters for unwed mothers. As a result, the number of babies adopted from unwed mothers increased dramatically, rising from 1,163 in the 1960s to 9,075 in the 1970s.
Reference: Kwon, Heejung. The Birth of Unwed Mothers: The History of Exiled Mothers (unofficial translation). Antonia’s Books, 2019.
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